Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s late complaint about the Council charging her late mother, Mrs C, for respite care she received in 2017. This is because Mrs B could have come to the Ombudsman sooner if she was concerned about the charges. There is no good reason to disapply the law and investigate this late complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained to the Council in July 2019 that it should not attempt to recover respite care charges for her late mother, Mrs C, for a period of respite care she received between 8 and 22 September 2017 amounting to £912. Mrs B says she was not told in 2017 there would be a charge in addition to the top-up amount. Mrs B says the Council should waiver the charges because she disagreed with the charges in 2017 and believed they had been cancelled.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information and documentation Mrs B and the Council provided. I sent Mrs B a copy of my draft decision and considered her comments on it.

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What I found

4. Mrs B says she received a letter in August 2017 from the Council explaining that the top up for Mrs C’s chosen care home would be £688 for two weeks in addition to Mrs C paying her usual contribution of £80. The letter says this is subject to a financial assessment. Mrs B says she did not know Mrs C would be required to pay anything else towards her care.
5. Following completion of the financial assessment the Council wrote to Mrs C care of Mrs B in November 2017. The letter explains as Mrs C owned her own property, and had capital over the threshold for Council funding, she would be required to pay the full cost the Council were paying towards her care charges, that is £456 per week in addition to the £344 paid by family as a top-up.
6. Mrs B knew in November 2017 Mrs C was liable to pay the full cost of her care and wrote to the Council, challenging the decision to charge Mrs C, in January 2018. Mrs B complained to the Council in July 2019 that it was trying to recover a debt from Mrs C she believed to be cancelled. The Council responded to Mrs B’s concerns and explained in November 2019 that the letter sent in 2017 explained Mrs C had capital over the threshold for council funding. I have not seen any evidence that Mrs B was advised the care costs were to be cancelled.
7. Mrs B pursued the complaint about the charges in 2019 following the death of Mrs C when the Council invoiced her for the care costs. Mrs B could have come to the Ombudsman in 2017 or 2018 when she knew about the charges. There is no good reason for us to disapply the law in this case.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mrs B could have come to the Ombudsman sooner. There is no good reason to disapply the law and investigate this late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman